[House Report 113-191]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
113th Congress Report
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
1st Session 113-191
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NATCHEZ TRACE PARKWAY LAND CONVEYANCE ACT OF 2013
_______
September 10, 2013.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on
the State of the Union and ordered to be printed
_______
Mr. Hastings of Washington, from the Committee on Natural Resources,
submitted the following
R E P O R T
[To accompany S. 304]
[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]
The Committee on Natural Resources, to whom was referred
the bill (S. 304) to direct the Secretary of the Interior to
convey to the State of Mississippi 2 parcels of surplus land
within the boundary of the Natchez Trace Parkway, and for other
purposes, having considered the same, report favorably thereon
without amendment and recommend that the bill do pass.
PURPOSE OF THE BILL
The purpose of S. 304 is to direct the Secretary of the
Interior to convey to the State of Mississippi two parcels of
surplus land within the boundary of the Natchez Trace Parkway.
BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION
The Natchez Trace Parkway extends 444 miles from Nashville,
Tennessee, through the northwestern corner of Alabama, to
Natchez, Mississippi. Congress authorized construction of the
Natchez Trace Parkway and designated it as a unit of the
National Park System in 1938.
The southern terminus in Natchez, Mississippi, was the
final section of the Parkway constructed and completed in 2005.
For years prior to its completion, it was uncertain where the
Parkway would terminate. The State of Mississippi acquired and
donated two different parcels of land to the National Park
Service (NPS) to accommodate a variety of possible construction
alternatives. After the Parkway's completion, the land acquired
for those alternate termination points remained unused by NPS.
The unused property includes two parcels: the Bean field
and the Feltus property, 38 and 29 acres respectively. The City
of Natchez wishes to develop the Bean field parcel as a
recreational complex, and NPS seeks to return the unused
parcels back to the State.
S. 304 would authorize the transfer of 67 acres of
identified unused Federal land back to the State, and adjust
the boundary of the Parkway to exclude the conveyed land and
include 10 acres of lands already managed by NPS.
COMMITTEE ACTION
S. 304 was introduced on February 13, 2013, by Senator Thad
Cochran (R-MS). On June 19, 2013, the bill passed the Senate by
unanimous consent without amendment. The bill was then referred
to the Committee on Natural Resources, and within the Committee
to the Subcommittee on Public Lands and Environmental
Regulation. On July 19, 2013, the Subcommittee held a hearing
on the bill. On July 24, 2013, the full Resources Committee met
to consider S. 304. The Subcommittee on Public Lands and
Environmental Regulation was discharged by unanimous consent.
No amendments were offered and the bill was adopted and ordered
favorably reported to the House of Representatives by unanimous
consent.
COMMITTEE OVERSIGHT FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Regarding clause 2(b)(1) of rule X and clause 3(c)(1) of
rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives, the
Committee on Natural Resources' oversight findings and
recommendations are reflected in the body of this report.
COMPLIANCE WITH HOUSE RULE XIII
1. Cost of Legislation. Clause 3(d)(1) of rule XIII of the
Rules of the House of Representatives requires an estimate and
a comparison by the Committee of the costs which would be
incurred in carrying out this bill. However, clause 3(d)(2)(B)
of that rule provides that this requirement does not apply when
the Committee has included in its report a timely submitted
cost estimate of the bill prepared by the Director of the
Congressional Budget Office under section 402 of the
Congressional Budget Act of 1974. Under clause 3(c)(3) of rule
XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives and section
403 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, the Committee has
received the following cost estimate for this bill from the
Director of the Congressional Budget Office:
S. 304--Natchez Trace Parkway Land Conveyance Act of 2013
S. 304 would require the National Park Service (NPS) to
convey about 67 acres of property in the Nachez Trace Parkway
to the state of Mississippi. The legislation also would adjust
the boundaries of the parkway to include 10 additional acres.
Based on information provided by NPS, CBO estimates that
implementing the act would have no significant impact on the
federal budget. Enacting S. 304 would not affect direct
spending or revenues; therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures do
not apply.
S. 304 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and
would impose no costs on state, local, or tribal governments.
On March 27, 2013, CBO transmitted a cost estimate for S.
304, the Natchez Trace Parkway Land Conveyance Act of 2013, as
ordered reported by the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural
Resources on March 14, 2013. The two versions of the
legislation are identical, and the CBO cost estimates are the
same.
The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Martin von
Gnechten. The estimate was approved by Theresa Gullo, Deputy
Assistant Director for Budget Analysis.
2. Section 308(a) of Congressional Budget Act. As required
by clause 3(c)(2) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of
Representatives and section 308(a) of the Congressional Budget
Act of 1974, this bill does not contain any new budget
authority, spending authority, credit authority, or an increase
or decrease in revenues or tax expenditures. Based on
information provided by NPS, CBO estimates that implementing
the act would have no significant impact on the federal budget.
3. General Performance Goals and Objectives. As required by
clause 3(c)(4) of rule XIII, the general performance goal or
objective of this bill is to direct the Secretary of the
Interior to convey to the State of Mississippi two parcels of
surplus land within the boundary of the Natchez Trace Parkway.
EARMARK STATEMENT
This bill does not contain any Congressional earmarks,
limited tax benefits, or limited tariff benefits as defined
under clause 9(e), 9(f), and 9(g) of rule XXI of the Rules of
the House of Representatives.
COMPLIANCE WITH PUBLIC LAW 104-4
This bill contains no unfunded mandates.
COMPLIANCE WITH H. RES. 5
Directed Rule Making. The Chairman does not believe that
this bill directs any executive branch official to conduct any
specific rule-making proceedings.
Duplication of Existing Programs. This bill does not
establish or reauthorize a program of the federal government
known to be duplicative of another program. Such program was
not included in any report from the Government Accountability
Office to Congress pursuant to section 21 of Public Law 111-139
or identified in the most recent Catalog of Federal Domestic
Assistance published pursuant to the Federal Program
Information Act (Public Law 95-220, as amended by Public Law
98-169) as relating to other programs.
PREEMPTION OF STATE, LOCAL OR TRIBAL LAW
This bill is not intended to preempt any State, local or
tribal law.
CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW
If enacted, this bill would make no changes in existing
law.